{"id":210265,"date":"2025-09-08T13:15:26","date_gmt":"2025-09-08T13:15:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/210265\/"},"modified":"2025-09-08T13:15:26","modified_gmt":"2025-09-08T13:15:26","slug":"bcgeu-strike-may-leave-b-c-restaurants-without-booze-in-days","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/210265\/","title":{"rendered":"BCGEU strike may leave B.C. restaurants without booze in days"},"content":{"rendered":"

Restaurants and bars across British Columbia are being told to stock up on liquor as the BCGEU<\/a> strike threatens liquor supply through provincial warehouses.<\/p>\n

In an industry update sent Friday, the BC Restaurant and Foodservices Association (BCRFA)<\/a> warned members it is \u201cvery likely\u201d that strike action will target BC Liquor Distribution Branch (LDB)<\/a> warehouses and stores.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf this happens, restaurants and bars will not be able to access product through normal channels,\u201d the memo reads.<\/p>\n

\u201cThird-party labour disputes are disruptive and costly.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ll be in trouble within days\u201d<\/p>\n

Ian Tostenson, president and CEO of the BCRFA, told Daily Hive the impact could be felt almost immediately.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would say within a couple of days, two or three days, and then we\u2019re going to be in trouble supply-wise,\u201d he said. \u201cEven if they strike tomorrow, it creates so much uncertainty. It\u2019s just terrible for us.\u201d<\/p>\n

By law, restaurants in B.C. must purchase liquor through government channels, leaving them vulnerable in the event of warehouse shutdowns.<\/p>\n

\"BCGEU\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Restaurants in B.C. must purchase liquor through government-run BC Liquor Distribution Branch stores, leaving them vulnerable to strike action. (Koshiro K\/Shutterstock)<\/p>\n

In B.C., restaurants and bars are required to purchase alcohol for resale through the Liquor Distribution Branch (LDB)<\/a>, which is the government\u2019s wholesale monopoly under the Liquor Distribution Act.<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t think small businesses should be caught in the middle of a labour dispute,\u201d Tostenson said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are 7,500 licensed restaurants in the province, with about 100,000 employees who will be disadvantaged by this.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kitchen labour crisis<\/p>\n

Beyond liquor supply, the industry is also dealing with a looming shortage of cooks and chefs.<\/p>\n

The BCRFA estimates the province is short 20,000 skilled workers across 15,000 restaurants.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt means shorter hours, closures on certain days, and lost business,\u201d Tostenson said. \u201cThese are skilled jobs, and there are no Canadians lining up to fill them.\u201d<\/p>\n

The association is calling for the federal government to expand and streamline the temporary foreign worker program.<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cWe prefer to hire Canadians, but they\u2019re just not there,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

The BCRFA has scheduled a total industry meeting for Sept. 10 to present a united plan to Ottawa before Sept. 15.<\/p>\n

The forum will include restaurants, pubs, hotels, liquor establishments, supply partners, and producers.<\/p>\n

Customers could feel it<\/p>\n

For diners, the ripple effects may be noticeable.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou could go into your restaurant, and if this gets really carried away, they would be out of your favourite beer, wine, or spirits,\u201d Tostenson said.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople enjoy going out and having a few drinks with their meals. It could mean they don\u2019t go out.\u201d<\/p>\n

That means everything from a Friday-night cocktail to a glass of Okanagan wine with dinner could be harder to find. Popular imports, whiskeys, gins, and tequilas, would likely be among the first to disappear from menus, since restaurants cannot stockpile unlimited quantities and must rely on steady distribution through government warehouses.<\/p>\n

Tostenson warned this could ripple far beyond restaurants.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf restaurants are weakened, everybody goes weak,\u201d he said, pointing to impacts on wineries, breweries, food distributors, and producers that depend on a healthy hospitality sector.<\/p>\n

The industry is also waiting on a response from WorkSafe BC<\/a> over proposed gratuity payroll rules, which Tostenson said would pile on red tape and costs.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve asked WorkSafe to shelve this for three years,\u201d he said. \u201cRestaurants need breathing room, not more regulation.\u201d<\/p>\n

The BCRFA said it hopes to hear back from WorkSafe BC this week.<\/p>\n

But for now, the biggest concern is how long restaurants and bars can withstand supply disruptions if strike action escalates.<\/p>\n

As Daily Hive previously reported<\/a>, the BCGEU has already staged walkouts in Vancouver, Victoria, Surrey, and Prince George, and union president Paul Finch has said members are ready to stay out \u201cas long as it takes\u201d until a fair wage deal is reached.<\/p>\n

Daily Hive has reached out to the BCGEU and WorkSafeBC for further comment.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Want to stay on top of all things Vancouver? <\/b>Follow us on X<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Restaurants and bars across British Columbia are being told to stock up on liquor as the BCGEU strike…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":210266,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[2147,50],"class_list":{"0":"post-210265","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-news","8":"tag-canada","9":"tag-news"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115168865516299627","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/210265","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=210265"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/210265\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/210266"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=210265"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=210265"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=210265"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}